Stephan von Schönefeld

Stephan von Schönefeld , also von Schonefeld or von Schonevelde , (* in the 16th century; † March 11, 1632 ) was a doctor and ichthyologist .

Live and act

Stephan von Schönefeld was the son of a doctor and surgeon of the same name who died on January 19, 1600 in Hamburg and previously practiced there. The father had been a citizen of Hamburg since 1573 and was married to Gertrud, née Schröder. The mother, whose father was named Joachim Schröder, died in April 1591 in Hamburg. Since father and son Schönefeld had the same name and both worked as doctors and there are only a few sources, they were often confused with one another in the literature.

Schönefeld's childhood and youth are not documented. His registration as Stephanus Schoonuelt at the University of Rostock dates back to June 1581. He learned from Pieter Paaw and in 1588 took over the position of respondent at one of his disputations on the origin of milk . On 24 April 1589 he was at Henry Brucaeus to Dr. med. PhD. In his dissertation he dealt with scurvy . He certainly chose this topic because his doctoral supervisor rejected Paracelsus and his theories on astrology and had already published on scurvy in 1576.

Von Schönefeld then worked as a resident doctor in Hamburg. Due to good healing successes, he was quickly considered a renowned doctor. In the 1590s he traveled for a long time with his friend Hieronymus Vogeler , who later became mayor of Hamburg. Both visited Italy, Austria and France. According to the Prövenbuch (donation book) the Schonenfahrer traveled from Schönefeld to Schleswig in 1579 . Johann Adolf von Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorf appointed him in 1603 as one of two personal physicians . In 1603 he was appointed again with a significantly higher salary. Since he sold most of his father's property in Hamburg in 1610 and 1614, he probably assumed that he would live permanently at the Gottorfischer court.

The Duke asked von Schönefeld to research the fish world in the region. Von Schönefeld dealt intensively with this, but could not complete the studies before the Duke's death in 1616. His son and successor Friedrich III. judged von Schönefeld as his father's loyal personal physician and granted him several exemptions . However, he himself chose other personal physicians and allowed von Schönefeld to leave the duchy. The medic returned to Hamburg in 1616 or a short time later.

In Hamburg von Schönefeld worked again ichthyologically. He used the Hamburg fish market to study the species that are on offer there. The resulting Ichthyologia et nomenclatura animalium marinorum, fluviatilium, lacustrium dates back to 1624 . The 87-page work contains seven copper engravings . Von Schönefeld partly worked with existing sources, but also made several initial descriptions of species. He also ensured a systematic German naming. The author assigned the whales to the mammals. He could have been the first, but certainly one of the first researchers to do this. He described a total of 425 species of aquatic life and thus created an important early document of North German natural history.

Von Schönefeld's fortune was sufficient to participate as a partner in five larger dike construction projects on the North Sea coast of Schleswig-Holstein between 1612 and 1623 . After the year 1624 in which his book appeared, his further life is unknown. Due to the publication date and the end of the partnership activities in the previous year, many historians assumed that the book was published posthumously. However, there is an entry in Sankt Jacobi's rent book . According to this document, Schönefeld received a pension that was transferred to his sons after his death.

family

Von Schönefeld's first marriage was Magdalena Hasenkrog, who died in Schleswig in August 1611 and was a daughter of Claus Hasenkrog. Von Schönefeld then married again a woman of unknown name. He had a daughter and two sons.

Works

• Propositiones sequentes De Scorbuto. Rostock: Möllemann 1689 (Diss., VD16 B 8441)

Digitized , Berlin State Library

• Ichthyologia Et Nomenclaturae Animalium Marinorum, Fluviatilium, Lacustrium, Quae In Florentissimis Ducatibus Slesvici Et Holsatiae & celeberrimo Emporio Hamburgo occurrunt triviales… Bibliopolio Heringiano, Hamburgi 1624
  Digitized , State and University Library Hamburg

literature

• Erich Kuhlmann: Schönefeld, Stephan von . In: Biographical Lexicon for Schleswig-Holstein and Lübeck . Volume 10. Wachholtz Verlag, Neumünster 1994, pp. 354-355.
• Otto Beneke:  Schonefeld, Stephan von . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 32, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1891, p. 286.

Web links

• Publications by and about Stephan von Schönefeld in VD 16 .
• Publications by and about Stephan von Schönefeld in VD 17 .

References and comments

1. ↑ see ADB entry
2. ↑ Entry in the Rostock matriculation portal
3. ↑ Entry in the Rostock matriculation portal